Spray nozzles are generally old and well-known in the art. They are applicable for a variety of purposes to disperse fluids and usually liquids. Illustrative of the art are believed to be U.S. Pat. Nos. 584,822, 1,147,018, 1,246,456, 1,264,854, 1,296,542, 1,527,222, 2,338,744, 2,570,972, 2,628,865 and 2,811,392.
A cone spray nozzle is a spray nozzle adapted to discharge a fine spray in the general shape of a cone. Cone spray nozzles have been used for dust settling, evaporative cooling, humidifying, irrigating, process cleaning and fuel injection. A good example of such nozzles is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 2,628,865.
Cone spray nozzles in their simplest form have usually been comprised of two components: A bushing which is typically threaded into a tube or pipe, and a dispersing member having a stem and a conical head portion which is fastened into the opening in the bushing. Corrugations or grooves are usually provided along the stem of the dispersion member so that the fluid jets from tube or pipe to strike the conical surface, which in turn disperses the fluid in the cone-like spray. In some cases, the grooves may be formed in the conical surface of the head portion of dispersion member to localize and further atomize the spray pattern.
Alternatively, the cone nozzle may be made in one component. A head member is provided having a single jet-like opening therein and an internal chamber with spiral grooves terminating in the opening. The fluid to be sprayed is forced into the internal chamber of the head and caused to undergo vortex flow by the spiral grooves. The fluid is thus forced through the jet-like opening in an atomized conical spray pattern.
However, irrespective of their construction, cone spray nozzles have been relatively expensive to manufacture. Precision machining is needed to make the bushing and dispersion member, or the internally grooved head. Thus, it was not uncommon for cone spray nozzles to be priced at greater than $ 1.00 apiece and greater than $ 0.50 each in quantities.